Spring plate



J.- M. HALL SPRING PLATE April 30, 1940.

2 sheets-sheet 1l AFiled April 6, 1958 @MMO-7: /Za M Ha April 3o, 1940. y J M HALL 2,199,339

SPRING PLATE Patented Apr. 1.50,v 1940 UNITED f STATES lSPRING PLATE Joseph M. Hall, Chicago, Ill., assigner, by mesne assignments, to Universal Railway Devices Company, a corporation of Delaware Application April 6, 1938, Serial No. 200,301

s claims. (01.26741) n n .t1

This invention relates to spring plates for use on railway cars and more particularlyfor use on bolster springassemblies for railway trucks.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of a new and improved spring plate rhaving means for retaining` the springs in position so constructed as to reinforce the plate.

Another object of thefinvention is the provision of a new and improved spring plate having its central portion so constructed as to form reinforcing means for strengthening the centralportion of the plate and at the same time constitut- 'ing means for assisting in positioning the springs.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a springplate `having new and improved means for reinforcing a spring plate having one or more intermediate spring seats.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved spring plate that 2 has its central portion reinforced, is inexpensive to manufacture, is stamped from sheet metal and that is not likely to become distorted or broken while in use.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a transverse section of a spring assembly showing the invention in position thereon;

Fig. 2 is a plan View thereof;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 `of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-,4of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a plan View of armodifled form of construction; f yFig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 isa section on the kline 1 1 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of a further modified form of construction;

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8;y

4K0 Fig. 10 is a section on the line Ill-II) of Figl;

Fig. 11 is a plan view of another modified form 'Ihis has necessitated the use of more springs forv supporting the bolster and the load carried byit. The shape of the spring plates is such that portions of the seats extend in front of, and in rear of, theY adjacent portions of the columns of the truck lside frame at the sides ofthe bolster openings. The present invention seeks to provide a plate that will meet thisrequirement and accommodate one or morecentral springs and yet have a 'reinforced plate provided with means for positioning the springs.

It is common practice in the manufacture of spring plates to stamp the same from sheet metal and in order thatj the plates shall have the proper rigidity, itis desirable that the edges be provided with flanges and that the central portions be reinforced. In my Patent No. 1,913,076, vJune 10" commodating from five yto seven springs in the assembly and yto so construct the plate that it will be provided with a reinforced central portion and with a reinforced edge portion. 25

Referring now tothe drawings, the reference character 5 designates a spring assembly com- 'pri'sing'a pair of spring plates 6 and 1 between which are positioned the springs 8 constituting the assembly. This assembly is adapted tov sup- 30 port the end of a truck bolster in the bolster opening of a side frame of al car truck.

' Referring now more particularly to Figs. l to 4, thespring plate Il'll is roughly rectangular in form somewhat resembling a four-leaf clover and 35 lhaving the spring seats Il, I2, I3 and I6 at each corner thereof. The edge of the plate at the ycorners is concentric with these spring seats and in this formof construction, the curved edge of each spring seat is greater than degrees. 40

A suitable segmental flange is'provided rabout the edge of the'plate.L In the form of thejconf. struction shown, this yflange comprises the segments I5, I6, I1, I8, I9 and2l arranged at spaced y points about the edge of the plate. The seg- 45 ments I6 and I9' have their ends concentric with two spring seats, asshown more 'clearly in Fig.. 2 and the remaining segments are each concentric with a contiguousfspring seat.

The central portion 22 of the plate is pressed 50 in a direction which, for' convenience of. description, will be referred to as upwardly as shown at 23, see Fig. `3, and this central portion has upstanding walls 24, 25, 26 and 21 concentric with the spring'fseats II, I2, I3 and I4, respectively, 55

and which cooperate with the iianges I5, I6, I1, I8 and 2l, for preventing displacement of the springs in said seats. The central part of the elevated portion 23 is depressed to form the spring seat 28, Fig. 3, for the center spring of the spring assembly. Or, to be more accurate, the central portion about the central spring seat is pressed upward. The springs for all of the seats may be interchanged if desired. The elevated portion 23 has a vertical wall 29 surrounding the spring seat 28 for retaining the center spring in position on said seat.

The plate, as stamped, is provided with depending lugs 3| for engaging corresponding recess in the bolster or side frame member for preventing displacement ofthe spring `plate during use. If desired, the plate may be provided with openings 32 and 33 for the drainage of water that may accumulate on the plate. The spring seat 28 may also be provided with the openings 34 and 35 for the same purpose. Each of the spring seats II, I2, I3 and I4 may likewise be provided with drainage openings 36. The flange segments I5 and 2l are spaced from the central raised portion of the plate to form notches 31 and 38 which are adapted to receive the inner corners of the columns of the truck side frame. Likewise, provision is made for receiving the truck column at the opposite side of the plate.

It will thus be seen that a comparatively light spring plate is provided which is properly reinforced between the spring seats as well as across the center of the plate in all directions by the ange segments and raised portions of the plate and that provision is made for using five springs. It will be noted that the corner springs are positioned by curved flange segments and a curved wall of the lcentral reinforcing portion at three widely separated points but less than 180 degrees apart and that the central spring is positioned by a circular wall of the raised portion which extends entirely around the spring seat 28 for strengthening the entire central portion of the plate.

The form of the construction shown in` Figs. 5, 6 and 7 differs from that just described only in matters of detail. This plate is also intended to accommodate ve springs positioned on the five seats 39, 4I, 42 and 43 at the corners of the plate and the seat 44 at the central part of the plate. This plate is provided with a segmental flange extending about its edge. The ilange comprises the segments 45, 46, 48, 5I, 52, and 54. The ilanges 45 and 5I have their ends concentric with adjacent spring seats. 'Ihe spring seats are all in a common plane and the central seat is surrounded by a raised portion 55 which has the curved walls 51, 58, 59 and 6I concentric with the spring seats 39, 4I, 42 and 43, respectively. This raised portion also provides an upstanding circular wall 62 which surrounds the spring seat 44 and is adapted to position the spring therein. The plate is also provided with depressed portions forming plate retaining lugs 63 and 94, see Fig. 7, lfor engaging in corresponding openings in the bolster or the side frame for positioning the plates.

The upper and lower edges of the `central portion 56, as Viewed in Fig. 5 are curved upwardly at their outer edges as shown at 58 in Fig. 6 for accommodating portions of the structure of certain types of cars. In Figs. l to 4 the corresponding edges are horizontal, as shown at 59 in Fig. 3.

Suitable openings are provided in the spring seats and the central portion of the plate for draining water from the plate the same as in the previous construction.

The notches 65, 6B, 61 and 68, formed between the flange segments and the adjacent reinforced central portions of the plate, are so positioned that they will receive the columns of the truck side frame. The flanges 45, 48, 52 and 54 have portions 41, 49, 5I and 53 that are wider than the remaining portions of the flanges as shown in Figs. 6 and '1.

In the form of the construction shown in Figs. 11, 12 and 13, the plate 69 is constructed to accommodate siX conventional bolster springs and is of the same general contour as the plate shown in Fig. 5. The plate has re-entrant portions or recesses in its edge and these portions are reinforced with parts of a segmental flange and with the reinforcing central portion of the plate as in the previous constructions. The raised or reinforcing central portion may be elongated and may be positioned on the central part of the plate. It is provided with recesses concentric with the spring seats for cooperating with the segmental flange which also has portions concentric with at least'two of said seats and other portions concentric with the remaining seats for constituting retaining means for the springs.

The form of the plate in this construction is similar to the plate shown in Fig. 5 in that the spring seats arranged at the corners of the plate have curved edges greater than 180 degrees. The plate 69 is provided with six spring seats 1I, 12, 13 and 14 at the corners of the plate and the spring seats 'I5 and 16 between the spring seats 1I and 14 and between 12 and 13, respectively. The plate is provided with a segmental flange extending about the edge thereof with the segments spaced from each other Varying distances. The flange comprises sections 11, 18, 19, 8I, 82 and 83, respectively. The flanges 11 and 8| have their ends concentric with two spring seats and have a central portion concentric with the spring seats 15 and 16. The remaining flange segments are concentric with the contiguous' spring seats.

In this form of the construction, the central portion 84 of the plate is pressed upwardly to form a reinforcement for the plate and the side portions at the ends thereof are provided with upstanding curved walls 85, 86, 81 and 88 which are concentric with the contiguous spring seats. The central part of the raised portion 89 is provided with upstanding curved walls 89 and 9I which are concentric with the intermediate spring seats 15 and 16. It will thus be seen that in this form of construction, the spring seats at the corners of the plate are provided with spring retaining means which engage the springs at three widely separated points for retaining the same in position and that the central elevated portion 84 materially strengthensthe plate 69.

In the form of the construction shown in Figs.- 8, 9 and 10, provision is made for a seven spring assembly. In this form of construction, the plate 92 is roughly rectangular in form and has the spring seats 93, 94, and 98 at the corners thereof. It also has the intermediate spring seats 91 and 98 located between the spring seats 93 and 94 and between `the seats 96 and 95, respectively. The spring seats 91 and 98' are smaller than the remaining seats and areintended to accommodate lighter springs for engaging wedges in connection with friction mechanism used in certain types of spring assemblies for increasing their capacities and for preventing harmonic action of the assemblies.

The plate is also pro-vided with a central spring seat 99. Ihe plate has a segmental flange eX- tending about the edge thereof as in the previous constructions. This flange comprises they seg'- ments lill, H32, |03, and |04. The ends ofeach of these segments are concentric with the two spring seats. The spring seats are all in the same horizontal plane and the spring seat 99 is surrounded by a raised central reinforcing portion |08 which extends about the spring seat 99. This raised central portion is provided with curved upstanding walls ll, |08, H19, IIB, Ill and H2 which are concentric with vthe corresponding spring seats 97, 94, 95, S8 and 9S, respectively. The central portion is also provided with an upstanding circular wall H3 which extends about the spring seat 953v for positioning the central spring therein.

In the description, the lower plate has been described but thisis for convenience only as the upper plate of the spring assembly is a duplicate of the lower one.

It is thought from the foregoing taken in connection with the accompanying drawings that the construction and operation of my devicev may be apparent to those skilled in the art and that changes in size, shape, proportion and detail may be made'without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. A spring plate for the Aspring assembly of a railway car having four spring seats thereon arranged at the corners of a generally rectangular form, the edge of the plate being curved about each of the named seats and being reentrant between adjacent pairs thereof, a raised central portion rigid with said plate and extend'- ing substantially from at least one reentrant edge to substantially the opposite reentrant edge of the plate and having spring positioning wall portions concentric with said seats, and a segmental flange extending around said plate and having portions concentric with said seats.

2. A spring plate for the spring assembly of a railway car having four spring seats thereon arranged at the corners of a generally rectangular form, the edge of the plate being curved about each of the named seats and being reentrant between adjacent pairs thereof, a raised central portion rigid with said plate and extending from one'edge to the opposite edge ofthe plate and having spring positioning wall portions concentric with said seats, a portion of said raised central portion being depressed to form a central spring seat, and a segmental flange extending around said plate 'and having portions concentric with the first named seats.

3..A spring plate for the 4spring assembly of a railway car having four spring seats thereon arranged at the corners of a generally rectangun lar form, the edge of the plate being curved about each of said seats and being reentrant between adjacent pairs thereof, a raised central portion integral with said plate and extending from one` seats, andan additional spring seat on each opy posite side of the raised portion, between two of the corner seats, and defined in part by one of the walls of the raised portion.

- JOSEPH M. HALL.` 

